The perfect cuppa chai… ~ Milk Tea/ Chai Latte

I seriously believe that if you like having chai (tea) or coffee, you should have it the way you want it. I am very wary of the chai I drink. If it is not as per my taste, I normally don’t drink it. So is the case with coffee. If you ask me if I am a tea or a coffee person, well – it depends on my mood!!! Most of the time, I prefer drinking tea, as I feel that I prepare tea better. But when I am outside, I prefer coffee – filter coffee to be specific. Anybody reading this post – if you know where I can get the filter coffee gasket in Dubai, please let me know. I cannot wait to make my own filter kaappi at home, at my leisure!!!

Today’s post is just a depiction of how I make my tea. Coming to making the tea, the recipe is courtesy my HD. When we got married, I was a complete zero in cooking. I could not make a decent tea, which was something my HD couldn’t take. So the first lesson he taught me was how to make tea. Even though, I have now perfected it (so I say!!!) after almost 9 years of practicing still sometimes he feels that I have not reached its pinnacle I know, husbands are also hard to satisfy at times! I don’t mean to say HD is demanding, in fact, he is the most flexible man I have found in my life, but when it comes to his tea, no compromise!!! My tea is pretty strong, so if you are somebody who loves it more milky, you can reduce the quantity of tea. I am putting in a couple tips below, which may be helpful, I hope… 🙂

Now why didn’t I add the sugar in the beginning? I used to do that till very recently and wait for ages for the tea to start boiling, in the process my tea used to get too strong to actually get the taste of it. Recently, when I visited a family friend, I saw her adding sugar after the tea boiled. When I enquired, she said that she had seen in a video that sugar slows down the boiling process of water. And yes, it seemed to be true!!! Without the sugar, the milk with tea boils faster and you are able to control the strength of the tea… Interesting, isn’t it?

Updated January 9, 2019: While working on a post, I realized that this recipe needs some updates, so editing the recipe with all tips… 🙂

Mix ingredients from water to dry ginger powder, if using, in your saucepan.

Keep it on medium flame and as it starts becoming hot, add the tea powder.

Once it starts boiling, check if it as per your required strength. If not, then keep it on low flame and continue boiling till the desired strength is reached.

Switch off the flame and mix in the sugar.

Now pour half into a glass and pour it back. This will ensure proper mixing.

Finally, pour into your mug using a lifted sieve to get those bubbles on the top. Actually pouring it from a height gives it kind of a different flavor. I guess you have to try it to know it!!! 🙂

Enjoy hot!

Notes

If you don't like milk powder, no worries! Substitute with ⅔ cup full fat/ UHT milk + ⅓ cup water. Somehow, tea made in low fat milk does not taste that nice - personal opinion!!!!You can make the tea plain without any of the spices. You can use tea bags, but it will not give you the extra strength. If you want lighter milk tea, one tea bag should be more than sufficient.On a personal note, I prefer Eastea or Kannan Devan tea for preparation. Once you get used to the hang of drinking tea, each tea powder will have its difference. It's just like having Bru or Nescafe, though it takes time to be evident!

Comments

thank u so much dhyuthi… yes, what u said is right… many of them take their tea preparation for granted and i'm not somebody like dat… it shows at home – my dad prefers my tea over my mom's, so when she's not hearing, he'l ask me to make it for him!!! 🙂

For me also a coffee (filter coffee)in the morning and a tea in the evening has to be really good. No compromise.

I am not sure but you try next to al Maya lals, burdubai (near the museum) there is a shop called Krishna stores, he has all these kinds of stuffs. I normally get my cooker problems sorted out with him. Check out.

Haha… when that post had gone live, HD was a heavy chai drinker, but as he has aged (if he reads this, he will kill me! 😀 ) his tummy can no longer take it and has shifted to black and green tea for almost two years now… Thanks a lot Chitra, I am glad you find it useful… 🙂 I know many struggle with making a decent cup of tea and I am somehow proud of my tea… not being narcissist, but whoever has had, has always said it is great… 😀